


Cure my tragedy

by Abi_snail



Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Angst, Attempted Sexual Assault, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Physical Abuse, Sibling Incest, anders hates blood, bragi - Freeform, kind of, mention of murder, slight emetophobia, the almighty johnsons - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:27:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23131675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abi_snail/pseuds/Abi_snail
Summary: Anders is assaulted.
Relationships: Anders Johnson/Mike Johnson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Cure my tragedy

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something for TAJ.  
> (The title is from the song by the same name by Cold)
> 
> Enjoy!

Anders sat with his back to the bar, watching the couples mingle, sipping slowly at his drink. It wasn’t an unusual place for Anders to be, the fact that he was sitting alone, however, was highly unusual.

Several people had come up, whether it was him or the god whispered sonnets just beneath his skin that they were drawn to he’d never really know, but he turned them all away with a flash of baby blues and a winning smile.

He just wasn’t feeling it, the company just seemed overwhelming and unwelcome rather than fun and enjoyable. He took another sip of his drink.

The world was probably ending.

A man sat on the stool beside him, leather jacket fitting well over his defined arms. Anders gave him an appreciative once over before turning back to his people watching.

He laughed when the barbie doll types shot down men who shot way too far out of their league and smirked when men with fat wallets swallowed up the girls with the Bambi eyes and pouty lips.

“Having a good time?”

It took him a moment to realize the man beside him was speaking to him. He gave him a nod and a small smile.

“Alone?”

“I like to be alone.”

The man sat back a bit, heavy hazel eyes running down Anders body. He wrapped his lips around his beer bottle, making a show of sucking slow and swallowing loudly, eyes never leaving Anders.

Any other time he would have appreciated it for what it was, but in the moment it pissed him off, his flirting running over Anders’ skin like something sticky and dirty.

“No one likes to be alone.” He grinned.

Slimy. That’s what he was. Like something that crawled out from the darkest parts of the ocean. Just...slimy.

“Good thing I’m no one.”

He stood after dropping his money on the bar, smiling kindly at the bartender. He needed to leave, the mans eyes and words felt like danger, like poison slipping in and Anders was never one to stick around to find out. He was quite good at running thank you very much.

It was a cool night and Anders tugged his jacket a little tighter around himself. His pace was quick and even when he felt eyes on his back he never glanced over his shoulder.

He couldn’t even find it in himself to be surprised when someone grabbed him from behind and threw him on the dirty ground in an alley.

The first thought he had wasn’t one of self preservation. All he managed to think was that his pants ripped at his knees and now he’d need to get a new pair. He could feel his knee bleeding and made sure to keep his eyes from venturing in that direction.

He pushed up off his hands and steadied himself on his knees, brushing the pebbles from his palms. He tried to meet the eyes of his attacker but he was quickly backhanded and knocked to the ground again.

“I gotta say, you look even prettier down there.”

He groaned and tried to speak. Bragi was heavy on his tongue, ready to get them out of the situation but as soon as he opened his mouth, a fist came down against his jaw.  
He spit the blood onto the ground and his head spun. He’d never been good with blood, any blood really, but his own especially. 

Anders scrambled forward, trying to distance himself from the man towering over him. He felt little bits of glass stinging his hands and he pushed the thought down. 

The man grabbed the back of Anders’ jacket, pulling it up so it pulled tight against his throat. He coughed and pulled it down, trying to get his breath to flow freely again.

A big hand grabbed his hip while the other hand shoved his face into the ground. He felt the man grind against his ass, the hard line of his cock digging into him. His stomach rolled as reality caught up to him.

The hand left his hip and he heard the unmistakable sound of a belt being opened. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to figure out how to get away. He knew he could throw a punch, but he also knew he was much smaller and in a precarious situation. He wasn’t going to play hero, he was going to weasel away and run.

He heard the shuffle as the man shoved his pants down to his thighs, the scratch of fabric as it bunched up. He turned as best as he could, meeting the green eyes he’d met earlier.

“Wait-”

The man tugged at Anders’ pants, yanking without unbuttoning them. He wrapped his forearm around Anders’ throat, pulling him up to sit against his naked lap. 

Bile rose in his throat and panic surged through him. He could feel Bragi pacing under his skin, desperate to use his words but unable to with his vessel choked off.

His pants were pushed down a bit and he struggled, earning a low moan in his ear.

“That’s good, I like the fight.”

Just his underwear was left to keep a small barrier between his skin and the disgusting man under him. He felt his hands scraping frantically along the ground, searching for something, _anything_ that he could use as a weapon. 

A hand wormed its way into his underwear, grabbing hard at his dick. He gasped at the harshness, too hard and painful. 

The arm around his throat loosened up just enough for him to slam his head back into the pricks face. He heard the crunch of his nose and he managed to pull away, jumping quickly to his feet. 

The man lurched forward, his arms coming up around Anders legs and pulled him back down, his fist colliding with Anders’ ribs.

He wheezed, vision swimming from the pain.

“Stop!” 

He recognized Bragi’s voice inside of his own, the power dripping from the words usually like honey, now like acid.

The man swayed, hands still reaching toward Anders. He pulled his pants up and held them closed as best he could.

“You’re not going to follow me, you’re going to forget this even happened. You’re going to go home and you’re never going to touch anyone again.”

He watched the trance in the man’s eyes and pushed past him, rushing off toward his apartment. His ribs ached, his jaw felt wrong. Everything hurt and he couldn’t see straight. 

He felt like he was going to puke and he took in deep, ragged breaths to try to stop that from happening. He was already bleeding which was bad enough, he didn’t want to vomit now too.

When the apartment came into view he almost sobbed. His legs didn’t want to move very quickly but he went as fast as he could. Unlocking the door to the front of the building, making sure it clicked tightly behind him. The stairs were awful and he hated them with a passion but he was almost home. The night was almost over.

He leaned against the door, searching for his key when he heard someone inside. He froze, every single part of him going tense. His heart sounded like thunder and felt like it would explode. He felt dizzy and sick and too scared to even figure out how to back away from the door.

He breathed a little easier when the blood humming in his ears finally settled a bit when he heard Dawn inside.

She would never know or understand how much of an anchor she really was for Anders. 

He drew in a breath and pushed the door open, stumbling in the process. Ty saw him first, not seeming to realize how bad off his brother really was.

He rolled his eyes. “Guess it was a good idea to come feed the fish.”

He nodded, kicking his shoes off and trying to get to his bedroom as fast as possible.

“I tried to call you, Anders. I wasn’t sure when you’d be home so I used my key to get in to feed the fish.” Dawn told him as she came around the corner looking like the sun breaking through the clouds.

“Thanks Dawnsie.”

She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head like she always did when she was thinking hard about something. He felt her eyes on him and he cringed.

“What the hell happened, Anders?” She was closer now and he pulled away toward the wall.

“I’m fine.”

Ty groaned. “Probably pissed someone off at the bar.”

Not too far from the truth and he felt the need to be sick rise back into his throat.

“Anders?” She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and he bolted, springing from his spot by the wall to his bedroom door.

“Don’t touch me!”

Dawn froze, her hand still in the air and mouth hanging open. Ty was closer to her, looking at his brother with concern clear on his face.

He couldn’t breathe and he wanted them out. He made into into his room, shoving the door closed and making sure to lock it. He fell to the floor, tearing at his clothes, they smelled like the man and he needed them off. 

He gasped for air, fingers digging uselessly at the rug. He made it to the bathroom before everything came flying out all over the clean tile. 

His ribs screamed out in agony from the force and his jaw clicked. His lips burned and it was only then that he realized his lip had been split. It hurt, it hurt enough that he collapsed onto the floor, turning his head away from the vomit.

All he wanted to do was get in the shower, burn away the feeling of angry hands on his skin, but moving was hard and his body didn’t seem to think it could pull him toward the shower. He felt the tears in his eyes, spilling over before he even had a chance to blink them away.

~~~

The shrill ringing woke him up, annoyed and snappy. Then Ty broke through the silence.

“Someone hurt Anders.”

And he was out of bed, dressed, and halfway to Anders’ apartment before he even realized it. Normally it would have been normal, Anders getting into a fight, maybe a little banged up but nothing serious, but the tone in Ty’s voice let him know that this time it was so much worse.

Anders was a pain in his ass, from the time he hit puberty he was a pain. But he was his brother, his little brother, and that set Mike’s feet moving faster.

Anders never let anyone know if he was hurt or sick, he kept it to himself after being beaten by their father for being ‘too weak’, if Ty caught a glimpse of something that made his voice sound the way it had over the phone, Mike was worried.

Dawn and Ty were on the couch when Mike arrived. Dawn sniffled and wiped at her eyes when she spotted him in the doorway. Ty kissed her head and moved to his older brother, eyes dark and dangerous.

“He hasn’t come out and we haven’t heard him moving-”

Mike spun around and pounded on the bedroom door. “Anders! It’s Mike, I need you to open the door!”

He pressed his ear to the door and heard nothing, his heart clenched and he pounded again.

He’d had enough wasting precious seconds and bent down, quickly picking the lock. It was easy, having three brothers, this had been a trick he learned ages ago and had never been so grateful for it.

“Stay out here, Ty.”

“But-”

“Ty!” He snapped, pressing his brother back some. “Just stay here.”

A flash of understanding went through Ty’s eyes and he staggered back against the wall. Mike didn’t know what he’d find in that room but if it was the worst case scenario, he didn’t want Ty being the first to see it.

He took a breath, preparing himself for the worst, his heart already breaking as he inched inside the dark bedroom.

He made it to the bathroom and took everything in quickly. There was a towel in the middle of the floor and Anders was sitting with his back to the tub, knees up under his chin. He was so pale, making the angry bruises stand out more.

Mike clenched his fists and cringed at how well those bruises would line up near perfectly with his own hands.

Panic filled blue eyes met his before he let his gaze fall to the towel by Mike’s feet.

“Puked.”

The sound of his voice had Mike kneeling, careful to keep some space between himself and his terrified little brother.

“Ok, I’ll take care of it, yeah?” He studied the damage he could see and wondered how much was hidden by his filthy clothes. “Can you make it up into the shower?”

“Moving hurts.”

He couldn’t remember a time when he’d heard Anders sound so completely defeated. He hated it, hated seeing him cowering in his bathroom, hidden away from even his own blood.

“Want a hand?”

Anders’ eyes went wide and he shook his head and everything in Mike shattered. He really didn’t want to think of what that reaction meant but it flooded into his brain and he couldn’t think of anything beyond ripping the fucker apart.

He held his hand out slowly. “Anders, it’s ok. If you don’t want me to help that’s ok, I can get Dawn?”

Anders made a sad sound in his throat and shook his head, slower this time.

“She doesn’t need to see this.”

“Ok. How are we doing this, Ands?” 

It took him a while to finally drop his legs, to finally allow Mike to move into his space. He hauled him up as gently as he could and fought down his anger.

Anders had always been small, even as a baby he was this tiny little thing that Mike was sure was going to break like a china doll. He was all pale skin and blinding blue eyes and dimples. He could remember being stopped in the grocery store by random women gushing about how he looked like a little angel. His curls would bounce with each giggle. He’d stolen hearts before he even knew what that meant.

Now, someone had seen that beautiful boy and used their size against him, held him down and-

He shut that train of thought down as fast as he could. He managed a small smile and started undoing his brothers jacket. It was torn and blood had dripped down staining the light grey suit.

He tossed it out of the room like it personally offended him. Next was the blue button down, and just why the hell did Anders have to wear so many damn buttons? That was clean but Mike didn’t want it in there, every single thing covering his brothers body, every piece that unwanted hands may have gripped needed to go.

“You’re shaking.” Anders told him, his hand coming up around Mike’s wrist.

“I’m fine Ands, don’t worry about it.” He balled the blue shirt up and laughed a little when another shirt was still covering Anders’ chest. At least that one didn’t have buttons. “Arms up.”

“Hurts.”

Mike nodded and pulled the knife from his back pocket. It was small but sharp enough. He held it so Anders could see.

“Ok?”

Anders shrugged and Mike gripped the neck of the tank top, pulling it away from his brothers skin. He made a little slit and ripped the rest of the way down with his hands. It slid down Anders arms and pooled at his feet.

He was greeted with more bruises. Some on his hips that were clearly shaped like fingers, gripping into Anders skin like they had any right to him. More from fists, punching into his ribs to keep him quiet. He could see his neck clearly and the long red mark, like a carpet burn. They stole Bragi’s words by choking Anders off, silencing him and keeping him helpless.

He took a second to regain his composure before allowing himself to meet Anders’ eyes. 

“Still ok?”

“Sure.”

The pants were easier to remove, already ripped open and Mike saw red again. He let them fall to the floor and eased the boxers after that, keeping his eyes locked firmly above the belt. He didn’t care about seeing his brother nude, wouldn’t be the first time, but he didn’t want to make an already scared Anders even worse. 

Mike turned the shower on and helped Anders step in, keeping him steady with firm hands on his shoulders. 

He hissed at the sting of the water on the cuts on his hands and knees. Some opened and bled again and Mike quickly wiped it away, seeing Anders sway under the stream, it wouldn’t take much to have him falling over.

“Lean against the wall, I need to get a towel and clean up the puke.”

Anders grumbled something but leaned against the wall like he was told. His eyes were closed and Mike didn’t trust him to stay awake too much longer so he moved fast.

“Ty, get a towel and put it on the bed. Stay out of the bathroom.”

Ty peeked into the room, glancing around. “Is he...”

“He’s...hes ok, in the shower now. He just needs some space.”

Dawn entered quietly and grabbed up the clothes Mike had tossed into the hallway. She didn’t look around, letting Anders keep his privacy and Mike appreciated it on his behalf.

“Wait, don’t wash anything yet.” He grabbed the suit jacket back out of her arms and laid it in the kitchen.

Ty shook his head. “Don’t even think about it, Mike.”

“Ty-”

“You’re not hunting them down!”

Mike glared at him. “Why? Give me one good reason I shouldn’t find him and rip his fucking throat out.”

Ty flinched. “What did they-he do?”

“It doesn’t matter what it was, it’s enough that he did _anything_. He’s not getting away with it, Ty.”

He wasn’t sure what it was, but there was always something _more_ with Anders. He loved all of his brothers, would do anything for them, but Anders was different. It was always that way. Anders pissed him off and got under his skin more than anyone else ever could.

He was so small and beautiful and the most annoying little shit in the world. But Mike adored him, wanted nothing more than to kill the prick who put his hands on things that didn’t belong to him, wanted to make that fear in those blue eyes fade away and never come back because Mike was there, and nothing, _nothing_ , would touch Anders again.

The shower shut off and he raced back into the bathroom in time to stop Anders from attempting to climb out alone.

He stumbled and fell hard into Mike’s chest. Anders groaned, his hand flying up to hold his ribs.

“Easy Ands, Christ.”

Mike wrapped the towel around him and pushed him to sit on the end of his bed. He watched his eyes flicker to the door several times, waiting...half expecting the monster to come back.

Mike cleared his throat. “Dawn’s out there cooking something and Ty is being Ty.”

“They don’t need...they can leave...if they want.”

“They’re worried about you too. They won’t come in but they are here for you. Besides, Dawn might kick my ass if I try to get her to leave.”

“Ty wouldn’t?”

“I can take Ty, but Dawn? She might do some real damage.”

A little smile pulled at the corners of Anders’ mouth and Mike smiled. He found something soft for Anders to wear, something to keep him warm. Even when they were kids, Anders was always cold, curling tight against Mike’s side to steal the heat from his body.

He smiled fondly at the memory as he pulled a hoodie down over Anders’ head. He winced when he had to lift his arms but he seemed happy enough once he started to warm up.  
It was such a stark difference from how he normally looked. He was well dressed, always put together, confidence pouring off of him like it was nothing, came as easy as breathing.

But there he sat in baggy sweats, too pale and bruised, so small and looking like he’d break in any second. There was nothing there of the mask he wore every single day.  
Mike thought the venerability, the fact that right then he was just _Anders_ , was the most beautiful form of his brother.

He pulled the blankets up tight around him, smoothing his hair back before he could stop himself. Anders didn’t pull away, he leaned closer into Mike’s hand.

“Get some sleep, Ands.”

Anders scooted closer and Mike extended his arm, letting Anders crowd into his side. He wrapped his hand around one of Anders’ fists, mindlessly rubbing over his knuckles until his breathing evened out.

He eased away from him, tucking the blanket tighter around him. 

He passed by Ty and Dawn and grabbed up the suit jacket, pressing it to his nose. He cringed at the smell of sweat, of someone other than Anders clinging to his clothes. 

“Keep an eye on him, Ty.”

“Mike I really think you-”

“I’m not fucking asking for permission, Ty! Keep an eye on your brother.”

He left the apartment before Ty could say anything else. 

It was an easy scent to follow, something foul, sour. He lived close to the bar, in some run down building that Mike had never really paid any attention to.

He took the stairs two at a time, following the scent to the top floor. His heart raced as he pounded on the door.

The guy actually answered, like the fucking moron he was, and gave Mike a once over. 

“Can I help you?”

Mike shoved inside the room, filthy. The man shoved at him but Mike hardly noticed, driven by rage, a need to break and tear and hurt. 

It was too easy, he hardly put up a fight. Weak, using his size and the element of surprise to overpower. 

Hiding the body was easy, no one would find him, though he doubted any one would even bother to look. He hoped that if there was someone out there that would miss him, that his memory would hurt them, break their hearts because he knew that face would haunt Anders, would hurt him in ways Mike couldn’t really understand.

He hoped it killed a part of them every single day.

Two hours had passed and he made it back to Anders apartment, grabbing a quick shower, hoping to be clean and dressed again before he woke up.

Ty told him he hadn’t woken up at all and that Dawn had made soup and that it was in the fridge. 

He put on some of Anders’ sweats, a little small but they’d do. Ty had his head in his hands when he made it back to the living room, hair still dripping down his back.

“I had to do it, Ty.” He sighed. “I’m not sorry for it either.”

“I know.”

“It’s just, it’s Anders you know?”

Ty watched Mike’s face for a long moment. He’d always been the one to notice things, even things you’d really rather him not notice.

“Yeah, I know Mike.” He stood and gripped Mike’s shoulder. “I’m not upset about it, not what you did to him. I just...when Anders came home, the way he looked-”

“It’s over now.”

Ty nodded and said nothing else about it. “You should get back in there, he’s probably going to need someone.”

“Yeah, get some sleep, Ty.” He pulled him into a tight hug, letting Ty melt against him for a long moment.

He pulled away, giving Ty’s shoulder one last squeeze before going back into the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Anders was still curled up just where Mike had left him and some of the tension bled out of him. He eased himself back into the bed, under the covers to pull Anders closer.

He was met with blue eyes staring right back at him. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Been awake for a while.”

“You want me to heat up the soup Dawn made or get you a water-”

“You found him didn’t you?”

Mike took a second before he nodded. “Yes.”

“And he’s... _gone_ now?”

Mike felt himself pull Anders a little closer. “Yes.”

“You didn’t need to do that. Wasn’t really a big deal.”

“He touched _you_ Anders, that’s a very big deal.”

Anders seemed caught off guard, he stared into Mike’s eyes, trying to find the lie there. He hated that Anders didn’t trust him, he didn’t blame him, Mike was a dick at the best of times.

He let his thumb brush carefully along the bruise on Anders’ jaw, his eyes glancing down at his lips before back up into his eyes.

Anders licked his lips, a subconscious action, but then he leaned in and Mike’s brain short circuited for a second. 

He closed the space, pressing his mouth to Anders’, it was probably the softest kiss he’d ever given anyone, but it still set his blood on fire.

Anders pressed closer, deepening the kiss and Mike answered in kind, his tongue licking at Anders’ lips, chasing the taste of him. 

Kissing was far from new, he’d kissed more girls than he could even remember, even a guy or two, but kissing Anders was something different, something that made him want to keep Anders close and never let anyone else near him.

Anders chilled hands slid under Mike’s shirt, fingers curling around his hip, tugging, wanting Mike to be closer.

He didn’t want to stop, his hands wanted more of Anders under them, his lips wanted to taste nothing but Anders on them. 

He pulled away, breathing hard and almost surging forward again when greeted with the site of Anders’ wide eyes and kiss-swollen lips. He looked wrecked with his hair a mess and breathing hard, he was beautiful.

“Mike-”

“Just...Christ Ands. You’ve been through too much tonight. I’m not going anywhere. If you want... _this_ , I’ll still be here tomorrow.”

Anders looked like he wanted to argue but finally nodded and laid his head back against the pillow. Mike pulled the blanket back up and rested his hand on Anders’ hip, keeping him close. He kissed his hair, the way he’d done for Anders’ entire life when he was scared and having a hard time sleeping.

He relaxed into Mike and fell asleep quickly. 

Mike stayed awake a while longer, letting the anger he’d felt, the fear, the hurt at seeing Anders so broken, he let it go. Now he had Anders there, pressed tight so that he could feel each breath he took, he tasted him, touched him, he smiled and shut his eyes knowing the morning would bring so much more.


End file.
